Kensington Fine Art Gallery fonds:

Finding Aid

Collection Summary

Kensington Fine Art Gallery was established in Calgary, Alberta by John and Ann Byrne in 1966. John Byrne (1905-1975) was an artist born in Ireland and raised in Eastern Canada after immigrating to the country with his parents at age fourteen. He was a prominent member of the Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engraving Society and exhibited regularly with the Ontario Society of Artists and the Royal Canadian Academy. In 1967 Dr. William (Bert) Fowlow and his wife Bea Fowlow became co-owners of the gallery. Bert was the first plastic surgeon in Calgary in 1960, which allowed him to finance much of the Gallery's activities. Kensington Fine Art Gallery had two locations in Calgary in the late 1960s; their main gallery at 328 - 10 Street N.W. and their downtown gallery at 513 - 8 Avenue S.W. From 1968 to 1972 the gallery was mainly active selling Canadian art, including a number of Group of Seven pieces. Since 2005, the gallery has represented contemporary Canadian artists from its location at 628 - 11 Avenue S.W.

Scope and Content

Fonds consist of correspondence with artists including André Biéler (1896-1989), H.G. Glyde (1906-1998), Toni Onley (1928-2004), Carl Schaefer (1903-1995), and York Wilson (1907-1984). Also included is a collection of exhibition cards, correspondence with other galleries in Canada, and a sales book with entries from 1966-1969, the initial years of Kensington Gallery operations.

Source of supplied title proper: Title based on contents of fonds.

Immediate source of acquisition: The collection was acquired by the National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives from R.J. Sinden Books & Art, Hamilton, Ontario, 2008.

Terms governing use and reproductions: Permission to reproduce or publish material from the Kensington Fine Art Gallery fonds must be obtained from the National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives.

Series Level Descriptions

Series consists of a sales book with entries from 1966-1969, the initial years of Kensington Fine Art Gallery operations. The book indicates which works of art came into the gallery, what paintings sold, for how much and to whom. It also includes minutes of shareholders meetings and a mailing list. The series further includes ephemera consisting of exhibition cards from 1965-1985, five business cards from art dealers in Canada, and two Christmas cards produced for the Kensington Downtown Fine Art Gallery.

Series consists of correspondence with artists including André Biéler (1896-1989), H.G. Glyde (1906-1998), Toni Onley (1928-2004), Carl Schaefer (1903-1995), and York Wilson (1907-1984). The correspondence primarily concerns the shipping and sale of works of art, but also provides additional information about the artists such as travel plans and their preparations for other exhibitions. The series also includes correspondence between galleries dealing with the purchase of specific pieces, mostly Group of Seven artwork and A.J. Casson watercolours purchased at a Roberts Gallery show by Bert Fowlow. Photographs in the series depict paintings by William Edwin Atkinson (1862-1926), A.J. Casson (1898-1992), Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald (1890-1956), F. McGillivray Knowles (1859-1932), J.E.H. MacDonald (1873-1932), and Thomas Mower Martin (1838-1934).